This might be—literally—the best day ever. Or at least, the best day in a while.

None of her nakama are sick, and none of them will ever be sick again now that they can count Chopper among them. They're finally in Alabasta, and the solution to Vivi's problems seems pretty simple to Lucy, they just need to figure out the logistics and stuff. Soon Vivi won't have to look so sad and scared all the time.

Plus, this morning Chopper gave her permission to stop wearing the bandages. Freedom!

And now, the best thing of all—Ace!

Her brother is here.

Minus Makino and Shanks and Dadan and Gramps, it's everyone she loves in one place!

Ace looks older than he did last time, a bit more mature. He has new tattoos and a funny cowboy hat and his freckles seem more pronounced. He's taller, a little more filled out, and apparently found a powerful Devil Fruit, so now he's even more kickass than he already was.

But despite all the changes, Ace's smile is just as wide as ever when he looks at Lucy, his eyes just as warm, and he wrestles with her in greeting just as he usually does, even while cheerfully chiding her for her unladylike behavior.

Lucy missed him.

And now she gets to introduce him to her nakama!

"Everyone, everyone look!"

Six heads spin in her direction. Lucy sees relief in their faces and then tension again when they notice Ace, especially from Zoro.

Huh. Weird.

Nami is the one who steps forward though. She's wearing the grin she gives to strangers. "Lucy? Who is this?"

Even weirder, it's Zoro who answers that question. "Portgas D. Ace, Second Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates" Zoro's hands are closer to his katana than normal. "He was looking for Lucy earlier."

Their behavior throws Lucy for a loop. Why are they being so defensive? It's not like Ace—

Oh. Right. They don't know—

"Ace is my brother!"

That startles them, and immediately all six of their suspicious expressions turn to shock as their gazes latch onto Lucy.

"Eh?! Your brother?!" Usopp shrieks. "Lucy, I didn't know you had a brother!"

Ace fake-pouts. "You didn't tell them about me? How disheartening. My crew knows all about you."

Nami's eyes flash in a way that's usually reserved for huge sums of money. "I don't suppose you have any good blackmail stories, do you?"

Ace looks incredibly amused. "Blackmail doesn't work on Lucy. She's shameless."

Nami gives him a shrewd look, and cocks her head to the side. "I'll trade you."

Lucy isn't sure but she may have just seen her life flash before her eyes. The accumulated blackmail is too much to consider. Nami doesn't even have to give Ace any real blackmail—she just has to describe half their adventure and Lucy's antics and he'll probably throw her in a cage for a week just to keep her from injuring herself. "No! Stop!"

Ace's grin turns wicked. "Sounds fair."

Lucy pouts. "So mean…"

Ace laughs, and settles one of his massive hands on her head. "Sorry, Lu-chan. It's my job to embarrass you." Then he turns to the crew, and smiles politely. "I didn't catch your names though."

Suddenly Lucy forgets the blackmail situation. This is her nakama, and she really wants to show them off.

"This is Nami, our navigator. She's amazing! She's super smart, and she can even draw super accurate maps without taking any measurements or anything!" Nami blinks, like she wasn't expecting the praise, which is stupid, but whatever. Lucy moves on. "That's Usopp, he's our sniper and our liar but he does a bunch of other really cool things too!"

Ace raises an eyebrow but he continues to look amused, so Lucy continues the introductions. She has to drag Ace a couple steps to the right so they can clearly see the rest of the group.

"That's Sanji, he's our cook. He makes the best food. He's the best cook! And he kicks things really well."

Sanji gives her his cigarette smile, the one where his eyes go bright that looks kind of proud and fierce. "Thank you, Lucy-san."

"That's Chopper, our doctor. He's a reindeer. He's amazing! Sanji broke his spine two weeks ago and he's all better now thanks to Chopper!"

Chopper squirms. "That doesn't make me happy, asshole!"

Ace cocks his head to the side like he has many, many questions about Chopper. Lucy decides not to answer them.

"That's Vivi, she's Alabasta's princess. I'm going to kick Crocodile's ass for her." And then maybe Vivi will come with them on their next adventure, but Lucy isn't sure about that so she's not going to think about it. "And this is Zoro! He's my first mate, and he's going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman!"

Suddenly there's a weird knot of tension in her stomach. She wants Ace to like Zoro. She wants Zoro to like Ace. It feels more important that these two get along than it does for any other member of her crew.

Ace stares at Zoro for a second and raises an eyebrow. For a moment Lucy thinks she's going to have to kick his ass but then she realizes it's not skepticism that's got him thinking, but curiosity.

"Not Pirate Hunter Zoro, right?" Ace asks.

Zoro seems a little wary of the extra attention. "I never called myself that, but yes."

Ace grins, and tips his hat. "Explains how you knew me then." Ace looks down at Lucy, a smile tilting his lips. "It sounds like a great crew, Lucy."

Lucy wonders if smiling too wide can actually hurt someone. "They're the best crew."

All six of her nakama shuffle with an embarrassed flush on their faces, but Lucy just soaks in the approval in Ace's eyes.


Night falls on Alabasta's desert, and if Zoro was one to wax poetic, he would have called it beautiful, watching the red sun descend on the sand.

As it is, Zoro is hot, sweaty, and tired, and he's inclined to be pessimistic. It looks ominous to him, especially considering the circumstances Alabasta is currently suffering.

Zoro is by no means the most exhausted person in their party. "How much longer do we walk, Vivi," Usopp moans. He's barely dragging his feet even with the walking cane he picked up.

"I'm tired," Lucy corroborates, equally dramatic. Zoro is irritable enough to not care. "And hungry." Her stomach moans loudly on cue, and she turns hopeful eyes to the love cook.

The love cook, for his part, looks completely torn. "Ah! Lucy-chan, I'm sorry, but we have to be careful with the rations."

"Mah, she'll be fine," Ace dismisses with a smile and a casual wave of his palm. He's the only person here who doesn't look completely exhausted. "She doesn't need as much as she thinks she does."

Lucy pouts. "But Ace…" she whines. Ace makes a mocking face at her.

Ace is the other reason Zoro's so tired. The swordsman hasn't been able to let his guard down since he showed up. It's not that he's worried about Ace hurting anyone—Lucy least of all—it's more that he can't quite shake the feeling that Ace is evaluating them. It's putting Zoro on edge.

Lucy is positively gleeful that he's here, though. Zoro can't blame her—it's apparently been about three and a half years since she last saw her brother. Zoro's never had siblings, but he thinks he would be similarly excited if his long-lost brother showed up out of the blue.

Hah. Out of the blue.

Okay, it is possible the desert is getting to him.

"We'll have just enough light to make it to that outcrop, I think!" Vivi called. If there is one person here more stressed than Zoro, it's Vivi. He really hopes this doesn't end with Alabasta in ruins. He's not sure Vivi would survive it.

Zoro squints to see the outcrop Vivi's selected as their campground. It's just a flat rocky surface with about five large stones around a fire pit, but it's raised so it's not so susceptible to the terrain's shifting patterns, and there's a ditch of some kind dug around it in concentric circles that look like they're meant to redirect sand.

It's Nami who asks about it. "Was this made for travelers?"

Vivi nods, a little pride gleaming through her stress. "Yes. There are accepted routes that any traveler through Alabasta can take, and always end up at a safe spot to stay the night. Our ancestors started them, and we've continued the practice. Usually there's a divining rod somewhere around these sites, or a well."

Nami smiles at Vivi, fond. "Alabasta's people really try to help each other, don't they?"

Vivi's pride grows. "My people love their country, and the country is its people." Her expression falls, suddenly. "Or at least, that was true until recently. They used to believe that the true enemy was the desert, that fighting amongst ourselves is how we truly lost. Now…" Vivi doesn't say anymore, but the whole group knows what kind of state Alabasta is in. Vivi is very, very close to being a deposed princess, rather than an undercover one.

Sanji and Nami share a look, agreeing without words on a plan of action. Zoro knows that if push comes to shove, and this war can't be stopped, they'll make sure Vivi makes it away from here safely. Whether she wants to or not.

"I'm sure the people here haven't forgotten," Nami says kindly. Nami is always kind to Vivi.

Vivi smiles but there's not much life in it. "It should take about twenty minutes to get to the campsite."

As it turns out, Vivi is underestimating them, and it only takes ten.

As usual, jobs are divvyed out among the crew. Ace is banned from helping, despite offering repeatedly. Nami called him a guest, and set the rest of them to work.

After dinner—which is rationed carefully by Sanji so that no one goes hungry, with the possible exception of Lucy, but she could probably eat a whale whole and still claim she had room to spare for another one—the seven of them circle round the campfire. Zoro protests the fire at first, because if this is a well-known route it would be easy for someone looking for them to find them, but he is eventually overruled by the sudden drop in temperature.

By sheer coincidence, Zoro ends up settling down for the night next to Ace. It's not uncomfortable, per say, but it is a bit awkward.

That kind of throws him for a loop, honestly, because Zoro doesn't talk much. He's not usually bothered by silence. In fact, he usually appreciates the ability to be quiet in other people, especially now that Lucy is in his life—not to mention the rest of his overly rambunctious nakama.

He just can't shake the feeling that Ace is appraising him. All of them, yes, but him specifically.

The whole party is exhausted, and after they've eaten and cleaned it takes seconds for most of them to settle in to sleep. Lucy, apparently completely unrepentant, cuts the tension between Zoro and Ace by plopping herself between them, and curling up with her head on Ace's shoulder. There wasn't much space between Zoro and Ace to begin with, so despite Lucy's tiny size she's pressed against Zoro's arm now too. Zoro would move over for her but he's already pressed up against a boulder so there's really nowhere to go.

Zoro manages to fight down his blush, but it's a near thing.

He's not sure why he's so self-conscious around Lucy today. Maybe he's just too aware that Ace is watching him.

And the Fire Fist is watching him. Zoro is too experienced to doubt his instincts.

He's pretty sure Lucy picked up on it, too. She keeps giving the two of them funny looks when she doesn't think they're looking. Zoro wouldn't be surprised at all if Lucy chose this particular sleeping arrangement just so she could ease tension between the two of them.

"So how's life on Whitebeard's ship?" Lucy asks tiredly, already half asleep.

Ace looks down at her with an incredibly fond expression. It almost feels like Zoro is intruding, and if it wouldn't be more awkward to do so at this point, he would go find somewhere else to sleep.

He doesn't hate Ace. He's just aware of him. Zoro is happy that Lucy is happy, at any rate.

"It's great," he whispers. And in a low voice he begins telling Lucy about his crew, about being the Second Commander of Whitebeard's fleet, and about how he found his Devil's Fruit. Awkwardly, Zoro is forced to listen too. He has first watch, and they're seated too closely to tune the other boy out.

Lucy, as far as Zoro can tell, is dead to the world within ten minutes. She held on for a long time, by her standards—she probably wanted to do more catching up with her brother. Ace doesn't stop speaking for another twenty.

When Ace is finally quiet, Zoro doesn't make any move to speak. The rest of the crew passed out almost twenty minutes ago, and so it's just him and Ace that're still awake. Even the chauvinistic camel is asleep.

Zoro still isn't exactly sure how that whole thing functions—it's weird that a camel would be attracted to human women, right? Like, that's not how evolution works?

He clearly needs to sleep, if he's thinking about this.

Ace, as it turns out, has other plans.

"You know," he whispers, voice low and carding his fingers through Lucy's messy hair, "I was afraid for a minute there when the ship wasn't at the dock."

Zoro glances at him. Apparently, Ace is finally ready to confront him about whatever it is he's been trying to figure out. "Why's that?"

Ace looks into the fire, a wry smile on his lips. "Lucy makes friends easily, but I always worry she's going to place her faith in people who don't deserve it. I thought I was going to have to explain to Lucy that some people just aren't trustworthy."

Zoro feels a flash of hurt, despite himself. He knows Lucy can be too trusting. He's complained about it enough, both internally, and externally. And the situation probably looked pretty bad to Ace—they were being chased by Marines, and all of a sudden the ship is gone, minus one Captain who happens to be the only member of the crew with a bounty?

From the outside, Zoro guesses it probably looked pretty bad.

Didn't mean it wasn't bullshit though, and his answer comes out a little more aggressive than he means it. "Some people. Not us."

Ace's smile grows warm and he turns it back on Lucy's sleeping frame. "Yes, I've come to realize. Sorry for suspecting you." Ace seems incredibly fond, and Zoro has to look away again at the emotion. "She has a way of getting under your skin, doesn't she?"

Zoro isn't about to answer that. He can barely admit he's more-than-just-attracted-to-her to himself, let alone Lucy's brother. "Hmm."

Ace clearly isn't satisfied with that though, and his next question throws Zoro off guard. "What would you give up for her, I wonder?"

Zoro nearly chokes, because he isn't ready to answer a question like that, but Ace is waiting for an answer and it feels like something he has to acknowledge regardless of how unprepared he is.

More than I would for anyone else. "More than I should."

It's true enough. It's just not the whole truth.

Zoro's not ready for the whole truth.

Ace seems satisfied though, and suddenly Zoro feels like he passed some sort of test. "Hm. That's good. I'm glad she has a crew like you." He brushes Lucy's bangs back. "Having a sister a little on the slow side makes an older brother worry."

Zoro cocks an eyebrow. Surely Ace knows… "She's not as slow as she seems."

Ace freezes and it's the first time Zoro has seen him genuinely surprised. Then he grins, and he looks so similar to Lucy that Zoro would never have believed the Fire Fist shared no blood with his captain. "…I know. I'm surprised you figured it out so fast though."

Zoro, graciously, does not tell him he figured this out within a week of meeting her. "She just likes to screw with people."

There's something pinched in Ace's face that tells Zoro he's trying desperately not to laugh. "Hm. Maybe I should say having a little sister that aggravating makes an older brother worry?"

It's Zoro's turn to stifle a laugh, lest he jostle Lucy and wake up the rest of the group. He does crack a grin though. "Funny. I know what you mean."


Lucy is hot, hungry, and frankly she thought deserts would be more interesting than this.

"I'm going to go look over here!" She hollers over her shoulder at her nakama. Lucy jogs over to the nearest sand dune and starts tripping the instant she steps off of the relatively packed sand.

"Wha—Lucy wait, where are you going?" Nami yells.

Lucy looks over her shoulder and grins reassuringly. "I'm bored! I bet there's something cool over here!"

"Something—Lucy we're in a desert. There's nothing but sand in any given direction!"

"I'll catch up later!"

"Ugh!" Poor Nami. Lucy should really stop stressing her out like this. Perhaps this is why Ace kept apologizing for her the last couple days? "Zoro, go after her, make sure she doesn't die."

Lucy is too far away to hear what he says in response but he sounds disgruntled.

Cresting the top of the dune, Lucy does a full turn. Nami wasn't wrong, there's sand in every direction as far as the eye can see. Lucy can kind of make out a shimmer behind her that might be the ocean. The Merry is docked there. They were there yesterday, but now they're here. Weird.

There's a dark line on the opposite horizon. Lucy wonders if that's the plateau ridge Vivi told them about.

"Oi. Lucy. We should get back to the group."

Huh. Zoro's here.

Lucy turns to her swordsman, takes him in. He's a bit red in the face from the heat, and he's wearing an irritable expression. He's been a bit touchy since landing on Alabasta. Maybe the climate doesn't agree with him? Lucy thought he and Ace resolved whatever issue they were having the second night in the desert, so it's probably not that.

Ace. Lucy already misses him.

"Nah, I want to explore a bit," she tells him cheerfully. Then she spots Chopper heaving his way up the hill.

Poor little reindeer. It's just bad luck for him that his first experience away from a winter-wonderland was a desert.

"Oh! Chopper! You came too?"

The reindeer doesn't respond, he just pants. Poor guy.

Zoro looks grumpy. "Can you explore with the group, at least?"

Well obviously not. That is a path, and nothing cool ever happened on a path someone else has trod.

Woah. That sounded almost wise.

Did she get that from Ace?

"Nope!" She chirps and then turns to slide down the dune. She feels Zoro's fingertips brush her back and she knows he just missed catching her. A big, challenging grin splits her face.

"Lucy! Get back here!"

Wow, Zoro really is grumpy today. He needs to lighten up. "Gotta catch me first!"

She hears faint profanities and then the unmistakable sound of someone skidding down a sand dune after her. Perfect!

"Ah! Lucy! Zoro!"

Lucy makes the mistake of turning around to check on her doctor, and Zoro takes his chance to pounce on her. He was closer than she thought he was, dammit, and he pins her pretty easily since she is still checking on the reindeer.

The reindeer, who is in his large form, and rolling down the hill completely uncontrolled, right into her and Zoro.

"Oh, shit." She hopes Zoro's thick skull doesn't fracture her forehead.

Chopper bounces once, blocks out the sun for a second, and then everything goes black.


Lucy pouts as she shuffles along ahead of her nakama.

It's not like she meant to get caught up in a sandstorm. She wasn't even conscious at the time! And that was equally Zoro and Chopper's faults, as far as Lucy is concerned.

But now they're mad at her, and so Lucy sulks ahead of them while they vent.

Oh well. Getting lost in the desert is still more interesting than what they've been doing so far. Monsters only make things entertaining to a point.

She glances back at her nakama. How long were they going to be mad at her anyway? She just wanted to explore!

Normally Zoro wouldn't be mad at her at all. The desert just makes him grumpy.

Lucy doesn't like it when Zoro is mad at her. It doesn't happen often but occasionally she pushes his boundaries just a little too far. Like, now, for instance.

Zoro being angry with her makes Lucy feel anxious, for some reason.

Okay, so she knows the reason. She just…doesn't know what to do with it.

She likes Zoro. As in, she likes Zoro.

Lucy isn't sure what she's supposed to do about it, though, because it's not like it really has to change anything between them. She acts like she always has, and he does too, and maybe she understands a little more why she acts the way she does around him, why Zoro occupies a particular part of her heart, and makes her feel things her other friends don't, but she doesn't know how to go about moving forward with it. She doesn't even know if she wants to try.

She likes the way things are with Zoro. She likes that she gets to make him laugh, poke him and pester him into being less grumpy than usual, that he lets her watch over him when he's injured. She likes that he listens, that he enjoys listening, that she can tell him whatever she wants to tell him and he he'll never ask for more than that. She likes how determined he is, how determined he's always been, to achieve his dream. She likes how well he understands her. She likes how well she understands him.

She doesn't want any of that to change.

And while she thinks there are things she'd like to do with Zoro that sound nice—kissing, for one, or holding hands, but mostly kissing—she's not willing to risk what she has for that. She can't be…casual, with Zoro. Neither of them are the type to do things by half-measures.

Besides, she doesn't know how Zoro feels about any of this, and she's not about to ask.

So she shelves it. Lucy had more or less decided to do that by the time they reached Drum, but now she's had time to think it through.

Lucy knows she can be selfish, but she's not about to risk Zoro on her own desires.

Hm. Deserts seem to be good for brooding. Fuck that, she's not about to start waxing about Ace now that she's done brooding over Zoro.

Behind her, she senses the boys are a little less hostile. She spots a cave ahead of them, and grins as she turns around.

"SHADE!" She shouts gleefully, and whips one arm back to catch her nakama and one arm forward to drag them to the rock.

Immediately there are protests, but she ignores them. Mostly just to irritate them, but also because Chopper really needs some shade as soon as possible.

The landing is a bit rougher than intended, and Zoro's ire seems renewed, but whatever, they're sheltered now. Captainly duties fulfilled.

Then they all fall through the floor.

The cave is interesting, but Lucy would probably find it more entertaining if it wasn't so pleasantly chilly.

Lucy flattens herself on the cool earth, because the sun is relentless in Alabasta and Lucy feels like she's never been anything but overheated in her life, and grins up at Zoro. "I told you exploring was the best!"

Zoro glares but then Lucy can see the moment he gives up, and he laughs.

Lucy settles back with a smile. Mission accomplished.


A lot of you were very excited for Ace. I know he wasn't around for long, and he didn't punch Zoro in the face in a fit of protective rage or anything, but I hope this was satisfactory.

Vivi's description of how the communal campsite works is an idea I actually pulled from Inuit tribes in the arctic circle. They leave these stone structures behind at good fishing spots, clean water areas, places where there's good hunting, etcetera, behind when they move on from a location for other people to find. In this way, they help each other survive the terrain. I think it's really cool, so I adapted that idea to a desert environment.

I revised the anime filler scene, because I needed Lucy to think about this at some point.

This will be my last update until Christmas, so...

MERRY CHRISTMAS, YA FILTHY ANIMALS.

Or, you know, Kwanza. Or Hannuka. Or just the holidays for you Godless atheists out there ;D

Let me know what you thought!